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(CNN) - President Barack Obama arrived in Afghanistan on Friday on a surprise visit.

Biden makes surprise visit to Iraq @ 1:05 pm by Eric Zimmermann Joe Biden made a surprise visit to Iraq today, where he'll meet with Iraqi leaders and visit U.S. troops in advance of the Fourth of July. Biden was recently tasked with overseeing the military's pullout from Iraq. As a senator, Biden advocated partitioning Iraq into three geographic regions, a policy which made him none too popular with the Iraqi population. And another angle: Biden's son, Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, is serving in Iraq as part of the Delaware National Guard. From the White House: Vice President Biden...

via translation - Unannounced visit to the German Chancellor in Afghanistan KABUL - The German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrived Saturday morning in Kabul for a surprise visit to Afghanistan, announced a European diplomatic source in the AFP. The information was confirmed by a spokesman for the German embassy in Kabul, which did not provide details about the visit. Merkel was to have talks with President Hamid Karzai, followed by a press conference around midday, and probably visit some 3,000 German soldiers stationed mostly in northeastern Afghanistan. It came after the Bundestag had overwhelmingly approved on October 12 the extension of...

Condoleezza Rice talks with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani on Sunday. BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her counterpart, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, flew to Baghdad on Sunday for a visit aimed at jump-starting the process of forming a national unity government. Rice and Straw -- who flew into the Iraqi capital Sunday from northwest England -- met with Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish politicians, who have been stalled in their efforts to form a government following the December 15 parliamentary elections."This is a really important time for the Iraqi leadership, for the Iraqi people, for...

ABOARD AIR FORCE II - Vice President Dick Cheney didn't suffer for comfort on the cavernous cargo plane that he rode into Iraq and Afghanistan this week.The Air Force loaded the plane with the "silver bullet," a mobile home in the sky strapped down in the middle of the belly. The accommodations included sleeping and working quarters that protected him from the noise and cold of the cargo hold during a more than five-hour flight into Baghdad.The rest of his traveling party was not so lucky. Cheney's senior staff and junior aides were assigned to a cramped three rows of...

The questions from the troops for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld were considerably more friendly on his Christmas Eve visit to Iraq than they were on his previous trip to the region a couple of weeks ago. "How do we win the war in the media?" asked one soldier in Mosul. Another soldier in Tikrit wondered why there is not more coverage of reconstruction efforts going on in the country. "I guess what's news has to be bad news to get on the press," Rumsfeld responded to the first question - after supposing, with a big grin, "that does not...

Bush makes suprise visit to Iraq almost one year ago A text of President Bush's remarks Thursday to U.S. troops in Baghdad, as provided by the White House: Thank you. I was just looking for a warm meal somewhere. Thank you for inviting me to dinner. General Sanchez, thank you, sir, for your kind invitation and your strong leadership. Ambassador Bremer, thank you for your steadfast belief in freedom and peace. I want to thank the members of the Governing Council who are here, pleased you are joining us on our nation's great holiday, it's a chance to give thanks...